Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco is going to spend a lot of time handing the ball off to running back Ray Rice and watching him try to follow one of the NFL's last fullbacks (Vonta Leach) through the San Francisco defense.
Mets manager Terry Collins said Rice deflected Carpenter's grounder on purpose to keep the ball in the infield, but then joined Buck in the chase to retrieve it and then was late covering the plate.
"I don't know how hitters ever get the ball off the ground with him, " said Andy Etchebarren, Rice's manager with the independent-league York Revolution.